No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
Deconstructing “down low” discourse: The politics of sexuality, gender, race, AIDS, and anxiety
Abstract
Discourse regarding Black men “on the down low,” also known as “the DL,” is deconstructed to reveal public anxieties around
sexuality, gender, race, and HIV/AIDS. After presenting a definition of the down low, ten basic facts are advanced: a) The
down low is not new; b) the down low isn’t just Black; c) the down low isn’t just men; d) the down low discourse contributes
to the spread of HIV/AIDS; e) the down low discourse feeds a neo-racist agenda; f) the down low discourse obscures the link
between HIV/AIDS and poverty; g) the down low discourse contributes to homophobia in the Black community; h) the down low
phenomenon suggests that there is more to sexual orientation than is currently acknowledged; i) the down low phenomenon demonstrates
the need to decouple sexuality and gender; j) the down low discourse provides a new opportunity to consider questions of sexual
freedom and choice.
... A narrative of men on the "down low" (the DL) -men who publicly present as heterosexual, often with an implied sense of monogamy, but who engage in male-tomale sexual activity, often with the implied sense of promiscuity -is prevalent in Black communities and is often used to understand to account for how Black women acquire HIV (Aholou, Gale, and Slater 2011;Bowleg et al. 2011;Ford et al. 2007;Goparaju and Warren-Jeanpiere 2012;Phillips 2005). The narrative suggests Black men on the down low engage in sex with other men and then transmit HIV to unsuspecting Black women. ...
... Findings from this study corroborate existing literature concerning the narrative of men on the down low (Aholou, Gale, and Slater 2011;Bowleg et al. 2011;Ford et al. 2007;Phillips 2005) and the use of this narrative (Goparaju and Warren-Jeanpiere 2012) by suggesting Black women engage in theologically informed re-membering of HIV and men on the down low to make meaning of HIV disparities, while maintaining important theological relationships. ...
... Understanding the men on the down low narrative is an important part of understanding the continued presence of misinformation about HIV in Black communities. Women perceived men on the down low as engaging in risky sexual behaviours even though the literature does not necessarily support this perception (Bowleg et al. 2011;Ford et al. 2007;Goparaju and Warren-Jeanpiere 2012;Phillips 2005). Analysis suggests this misperception may stem from, or be enabled by, theological beliefs that these men are engaging in immoral behaviours -behaviours broader USA society has long associated with HIV (Treichler 1999). ...
This analysis of 84 interviews with female Black Church leaders and members from Atlanta, GA, examined how women in Black churches construct definitions of, and identities in relation to, HIV narratives about men on the down low. We analyse these narratives as collective memories, through the theoretical lens of memory and trauma studies, by identifying how women understand themselves as the victims of men on the down low transmitting HIV; describe this as a painful experience; make public claims about this experience; and draw on theological understandings to make these claims. The narratives articulate how Black communal modes of meaning making have been disrupted by the HIV epidemic and assign responsibility for HIV transmission to men on the down low, who are perceived to be engaged in risky sexual behaviour. We discuss these results in relation to HIV education and prevention and suggest health educators can engage Black church leaders by understanding these narratives as forms of countermemory.
... 69). Phillips (2005) addressed the same issue in her discourse about BMSM/W or DL men by stressing factors including (a) that the DL was not a new sexual behavior; (b) that the DL is not restricted to African American men; (c) that DL sexual behaviors contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS; (d) that the discourse about DL sexual behavior feeds a neo-racist agenda; (e) that DL sexual behavior adds to the homophobia already present in the African American community; (f) that DL sexual behavior stresses a need to separate sexuality from gender; (g) and that DL sexual behavior may present an opportunity to reconsider sexual freedom and sexual choices. However, Phillips' discourse does not support the statistical indicators from the CDC pertaining to the rising rates of HIV/AIDS in the African American community. ...
... 209). In addition, Phillips (2005) wrote that the DL term referred to African American men who secretly have sex with other men while maintaining heterosexual relationships with women and presenting themselves with a hypermasculine persona. Wolitski et al. (2006) found that there are five characteristic that the various definitions for the DL share: (a) DL men are defined as African American, (b) DL men do not identify as gay, (c) DL men have intimate relationships with both men and women, (d) DL men do not disclose their sexual behavior with men to female partners, and (e) DL men "never, or inconsistently, use condoms with male and female [partners]" (p. ...
... Pitt (2006) studied the popular media's description of the DL and noted that most articles focused on the DL as a pathology in terms of behavior, and characterized the African American men who engage in intimate relationships with other men as predators. Phillips (2005) noted that some aspects of the DL discourse in both the scholarly literature and popular culture literature (and media) have portrayed the DL phenomenon as one of "spectacle, hype, and mass hysteria" (p. 4). ...
... Being in a recognized heterosexual relationship is a way for men on the DL to protect themselves from judgment (Mays et al. 2004;Mitchell 2006;Smith 2006;Valera 2007). However, Phillips (2005) says that demarcating the DL as black men spreading HIV=AIDS creates and instills homophobia within the African-American community and ignores the fact that poverty is more likely a cause of HIV=AIDS rates (Kaplan 1990). Mays et al. (2004) agree with Phillips in asserting that HIV prevention should focus on the African-American population as a whole, not just on individuals who are on the ''down low.'' ...
... Thus, the influences of race and gender on African-American sexualities need to be given more attention in 3 There are also challenges in how the various sources make these sexual identities operational-and whether they are talking about one particular racial group or any DL men. In her analysis, Phillips (2005) claims that the DL is made up of African-American men who have sex with other African-American men. Agyemang (2007) defines the DL as '' . . . ...
... order to understand that there are multiple heterosexualities (Ford et al. 2007;Mays et al. 2004;Phillips 2005;Ross 2005;Smith 2006;Ward 2007) as well as homosexualities outside of the current, mainstream framework of gayness (Guzmán 2006). ...
This article troubles the “down low” (DL) discourse by focusing on an Internet forum—Craigslist.org—where people on the “down low” post. The advertisements, gathered from seven cities in two U.S. regions, reinforce some of the “down low” discussion in the previous literature, as they show a pattern of seeking “masculine” men. These ads also depart from general perceptions such as the DL being a term used predominantly by black men. The authors discuss methodological implications in research with posts, and suggest advancing analyses on the relationship between race, sexuality and power, and gender and sexuality in DL research.
... The down low is a phenomenon consisting predominately of men identifying as 'heterosexual' or 'straight' who engage in sex with both men and women and fail to disclose same-sex behaviour to other men and/or women, which may result in increased risk for STIs (Ford et al. 2007;King and Hunter 2004;Wolitski et al. 2006). This construction of the down low is not without controversy, as a number of scholars have contested and critiqued the conceptualisation (Boykin 2005;Ford et al. 2007;Phillips 2005). Boykin (2005) has criticised academics and public health offi cials who fi nd anecdotal evidence or small niches of Black men purported to be on the down low but fail to acknowledge White women or White men who have sex with men and women. ...
... These initial fi ndings are supported by El Zabar (2001:2) who asserted that the rapid increase in STIs among Black women may be the result of a 'secret dual lifestyle' by Black men. More recent research has found that since the ideal identity for non-White men is linked with masculinity and fatherhood, homosexuality remains stigmatised by Black and Latino individuals, institutions and communities (Denizet-Lewis 2003;Malebranche 2008;Phillips 2005). ...
... Consistent with prior research (Barnshaw 2005;Berger 1982Berger /2006, we also found that the mid-life category of men aged 40-49 were engaging in higher-risk sexual behaviour. Our fi ndings (Table 2) (Denizet-Lewis 2003;Malebranche 2008;Phillips 2005) developed at the high point of HIV infection rates among Black women in the United States blamed Black men for the increased rates of HIV infection and neglected the larger social and cultural dynamics embedded within the Black community that could have explained why gay did not serve as an adequate identity for same-sex behaviour. The down low may also refer to an identity that is entirely separate from gay or homosexual identity as evidenced by J. L. King's account where men are 'living on the down low, or DL' as a lifestyle or identity separate from traditional sexual scripting of gay or straight (King and Hunter 2004:3). ...
The down low has recently emerged as phenomenon where men have sex with men (MSM), but identify
as ‘heterosexual’ or ‘straight’. Although the down low has received considerable attention in United States
media, little empirical research has sought to investigate this phenomenon beyond anecdotal evidence.
Utilising data from the Urban Men’s Health Study (UMHS) (n = 2881), this research offers a unique
opportunity to investigate empirically claims of the down low beyond small opportunistic samples. We fi nd
signifi cant support for the down low among Blacks and Latinos and its association with high-risk sexual
behaviour. These fi ndings highlight the need for future research that better understands the impact of the
phenomenon within a cultural and community context.
... The down low has been written about, both before and after King's appearance, for nearly two decades by other writers including best-selling novelist E. Lynn Harris, hip hop star Terrance Dean, and Keith Boykin, author of the 2005 book "Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies and Denial in Black America". Boykin cautions that the that these closeted minorities are now being unjustly blamed for the spread of HIV/AIDS as a result of down low discourse (Phillips, 2005). This paper does norities. ...
... It has been noted that ethnic gay culture because they view it as primarily white and feminine (Sandfort & Dodge, 2008). Besides ascribing to a sense of secrecy, down-low sexuality is also characterized by a markedly masculine sexual prowess in accordance with some ethnic cultural values (Layli, 2005;Sandfort & Dodge, 2008). Minority males may feel as though they have to exaggerate masculine attributes in order to compensate for a lack of privilege that comes with not being white. ...
... Several theoretical frameworks have been proposed to explain this discordance. Some studies with limited samples examined "the closet" or "the down low" (Boykin, 2005;Ford, Whetten, Hall, Kaufman, & Thrasher, 2007;King, 2004;Phillips, 2005). Others focused on college "hookup culture" and expectations of sexual experimentation, including young women hooking up with other women at parties, ostensibly to attract men (Diamond, 2005;Kimmel & Plante, 2002;Kuperberg & Padgett, 2015;Wade, 2017;Ward, 2015). ...
... Public fascination with self-identified heterosexuals hooking up with same-sex partners arose in the 1990s, along with phrases "on the down low" and "on the D.L." Originating among African-Americans, these idioms originally referred to any act done secretly, but became associated with men who "publicly present as heterosexual while secretly having sex with other men" (Boykin, 2005;Ford et al., 2007;Phillips, 2005). Others used "in the closet" to describe LGB individuals hiding their sexual identity in public, or even to themselves (Seidman, Meeks, & Traschen, 1999). ...
Individuals who identify as heterosexual but engage in same-sex sexual behavior fascinate both researchers and the media. We analyzed the Online College Social Life Survey dataset of over 24,000 undergraduate students to examine students whose last hookup was with a same-sex partner (N = 383 men and 312 women). The characteristics of a significant minority of these students (12% of men and 25% of women) who labelled their sexual orientation "heterosexual" differed from those who self-identified as "homosexual," "bisexual," or "uncertain." Differences among those who identified as heterosexual included more conservative attitudes, less prior homosexual and more prior heterosexual sexual experience, features of the hookups, and sentiments about the encounter after the fact. Latent class analysis revealed six distinctive "types" of heterosexually identified students whose last hookup was with a same-sex partner. Three types, comprising 60% of students, could be classified as mostly private sexual experimentation among those with little prior same-sex experience, including some who did not enjoy the encounter; the other two types in this group enjoyed the encounter, but differed on drunkenness and desire for a future relationship with their partner. Roughly, 12% could be classified as conforming to a "performative bisexuality" script of women publicly engaging in same-sex hookups at college parties, and the remaining 28% had strong religious practices and/or beliefs that may preclude a non-heterosexual identity, including 7% who exhibited "internalized heterosexism." Results indicate several distinctive motivations for a heterosexual identity among those who hooked up with same-sex partners; previous research focusing on selective "types" excludes many exhibiting this discordance.
... These results suggest that minority stress may differentially impact subgroups of SMM. For example, since the HIV/AIDS crisis, black men on the down low (DL; i.e., men who do not acknowledge a sexual minority identity but engage in same-sex sexual behavior) have been erroneously blamed for rising HIV/AIDS incidence [29]. As such, DL black men are at risk for experiencing cultural-specific homophobia fueled by fear of HIV/AIDS [29,30] and accompanying victimization [30]. ...
... For example, since the HIV/AIDS crisis, black men on the down low (DL; i.e., men who do not acknowledge a sexual minority identity but engage in same-sex sexual behavior) have been erroneously blamed for rising HIV/AIDS incidence [29]. As such, DL black men are at risk for experiencing cultural-specific homophobia fueled by fear of HIV/AIDS [29,30] and accompanying victimization [30]. Given that experiencing external prejudice events is associated with poorer physical health for SMP [31], DL men may be at increased risk for chronic disease disparities compared with their "out" (i.e., those self-identify as SMP) counterparts. ...
Purpose:
To examine chronic disease disparities by sexual orientation measurement among sexual minorities.
Methods:
We pooled data from the 2009-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine differences in chronic disease prevalence between heterosexual and sexual minority people as defined by sexual identity, lifetime sexual behavior, 12-month sexual behavior, and concordance of lifetime sexual behavior and sexual identity.
Results:
Self-identified lesbian women reported greater odds of asthma (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 3.19; 95% confidence intervals [CI], 1.37-7.47) and chronic bronchitis (aOR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.21-5.72) than self-identified heterosexual women. Self-identified sexual minority women with a history of same-sex sexual behavior reported greater odds of arthritis (aOR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.02-2.74). Compared with heterosexual men, gay men reported greater odds of chronic bronchitis when sexual orientation was defined by sexual identity (aOR, 4.68; 95% CI, 1.90-11.56) or 12-month sexual behavior (aOR, 3.22; 95% CI, 1.27-8.20), as did bisexual men defined by lifetime sexual behavior (aOR, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.14-4.89). Bisexual men reported greater odds of asthma when measured by lifetime sexual behavior (aOR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.12-3.19), as did self-identified heterosexual men with a history of same-sex sexual behavior (aOR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.10-4.46).
Conclusions:
How we define sexual orientation influences our understanding of chronic disease prevalence. Capturing subgroups of sexual minority people in health surveillance is essential for identifying groups most at risk and developing targeted interventions to reduce chronic disease disparities.
... African Americans account for about 44% of all newly diagnosed HIV infections, 64% of the women infected with HIV, 67% of children under the age of 13, and 66% of HIV infections attributed to heterosexual sexual contact (CDC, 2014). With respect to STD=HIV risk exposure among African Americans, Phillips (2005) reported that although there is a strong association between poverty and STD=HIV, there is also a sociocultural belief that sexual activity is ''risk free'' if the sexual partner's orientation is heterosexual. Phillips (2005) supported the notion that there is an inverse relationship between the fear of STD=HIV and homophobia within African American communities. ...
... With respect to STD=HIV risk exposure among African Americans, Phillips (2005) reported that although there is a strong association between poverty and STD=HIV, there is also a sociocultural belief that sexual activity is ''risk free'' if the sexual partner's orientation is heterosexual. Phillips (2005) supported the notion that there is an inverse relationship between the fear of STD=HIV and homophobia within African American communities. Kyomugisha (2006), however, reported that HIV=AIDS is on the rise among African Americans due to heterosexual risky sexual practices, cultural taboos against condom use, and the sociocultural dependencies of African American women to deny STD=HIV infection risk to protect relationships with African American men, thereby avoiding conflict, physical assaults, abandonment, or loss of social status and social esteem in African American communities. ...
This article examines the behavioral health mechanisms of drug and alcohol abuse and risky sexual practices among young adult and adult African American women and their intersectional influences on rates of incarceration among this vulnerable population. The authors posit that sociocultural identity, family and peer relationships, and neighborhood influences are significant factors that uniquely influence young adult and adult African Americans to participate in maladaptive behavioral health mechanisms of drug use and risky sexual practices that lead to and are correlates of corrections involvement. The authors conclude the article drawing implications for practice and future research on the myriad of factors that accompany the victimization experiences of African American young adult and adult women involved in substance abuse, risky sexual behaviors, and corrections systems.
... The term "on the down low" came into existence in the early 1990s. Originating in the African American community, the term referred to something of secrecy, but was quickly associated with men whose public identity was heterosexual but who privately engaged in sexual activities with other men (Boykin, 2005;Ford, Whitten, Kaufmann, & Thrasher 2007;González, 2007;Phillips, 2005). Typically men who are on the down low (DL) describe themselves as, and identify as, heterosexual, but secretly engage in same-sex sexual behavior. ...
... But the term remained problematic. Ford et al. (2007, p. 209) defined the term as "publicly present as heterosexual while secretly having sex with other men", a definition accepted by other researchers as well (King, 2004;Phillips, 2005;Wolitski, Jones, Wasserman, & Smith, 2006). Although women who publicly identify or are assumed to be heterosexual yet seek out and participate in same-sex sexual encounters are on the DL by Ford et al.'s definition (changing, obviously, "men" to "women"), it is not a term the women themselves seem to employ. ...
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community is well aware of the phenomenon of ‘straight girls’ seeking out and engaging in intimate sexual relationships with women. However, there is a dearth of research on women who openly identify themselves as heterosexual, and even participate in relationships with men, yet seek out secret relationships with other women. This pilot study examined the experiences and meaning-making of women who are ‘undercover’ in this way and the factors that shape their construction of their sexual identity and compel them to live a secret, compartmentalized life. Four major themes emerged: a desire to remain married, the belief that ‘girls don't count’ as extramarital partners, shame, and ‘on and off the wagon.’ For the women in this study, the decision to act on their desire for sexual contact with another woman was fraught with internal conflict, shame, and guilt. The data reveal that the constraints around one's sexuality are not nearly as powerful culturally as the constraints around one's public image.
... In fact, previous research on Black LGB college students at historically black college and universities found that they often refrain from disclosing their sexual identity and struggle to integrate their sexual identity with their Black identity in environments where they receive homophobic messages (McCready, 2004). The desire to respect cultural values, preserve family reputations, and fit into heterosexual scripts in order to refrain from being ostracized can increase internalized homophobia (Bowleg et al., 2003;Brooks, 2017;Phillips, 2005). Internalized homophobia places Black SMW at higher risk of negative health outcomes due to its links to sexual identity non-disclosure to healthcare providers (Durso & Meyer, 2013;St. ...
Black sexual minority women (SMW) are disproportionately impacted by negative health outcomes, healthcare discrimination , and provider bias. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate which sexual identity characteristics and minority stressors are associated with healthcare stereotype threat and healthcare access for Black SMW. Using secondary data from the Generations Study data, N ¼ 142 Black and/or biracial cisgender women were analyzed using bivariate correlations and stepwise regression models. Healthcare stereotype threat was positively associated with higher perceptions of stigma, sexual identity concealment, and reports of sexual identity centrality. Healthcare access was affected by bisexual identity, masculine gender presentation, and sexual identity concealment. Improving Black SMW's healthcare utilization and experiences in healthcare settings is crucial for promoting health equity. Implications for healthcare providers and discussed.
... While there have been innumerable studies on HIV/AIDS in European and North American contexts, and on borders and migration researched from the perspectives of the Global North, here, I turn my attention to Turkey, a country that is predominantly Muslim and has borders with both Europe and the Middle East. Furthermore, while previous studies on racialized and migrantized constructions of HIV/AIDS have often focused on discriminatory discourse on Blackness (Cohen 1999;Phillips 2005) and Haitiness (Dubois 2009), my investigation concentrates on Turkish public anxieties about "Westernness", "Russianness", and "whiteness" at the time when AIDS reached Turkey. ...
Looking back to remember the “arrival” of AIDS in Turkey, this article explores how the spread of the new disease fueled border panic in Turkey from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s. Drawing on a rich array of material from the archives of national newspapers and magazines, this article analyzes the media discourse on migrant sex workers from the former USSR and the first HIV-positive men. It shows how both groups were seen as intruders bringing the virus from outside Turkey’s borders to its territory. In both cases, I argue, fear of the spread of the virus across borders became entangled with anxieties about the movement of ideas, images, lifeworlds, and meanings relating to sexuality that were discursively constructed as fundamentally alien to Turkish ones. The movement of sexually and racially “other” bodies across borders was seen as a threat to the fragile construed border between “Turkishness” and “foreignness”.
... The current scholarship on this practice in the U.S. suggests that there are white men who have sex with other men without identifying as gay or bisexual (Ward, 2015). However, black men who sleep with both men and women without identifying as bisexual or gay, are marked as Down Low or DL (Phillips, 2005;McCune, 2008;Snorton, 2014). In either case, there are no easy explanations for such sexual practices ascribed to segregation of the sexes or lack of access to female bodies. ...
This article examines the discourse of non-normative sexuality and gender variance in Pakistan produced through commissioned transnational documentaries. While the documentary apparatus is mobilized to make visible gender and sexual minorities in Pakistan, they deploy self-othering schema within which the other is defined in comparison to the Euro-American center and its politics of normative citizenship. Sexual practices and gender embodiments that do not match up to the normative ideals are deemed aberrant and rendered abject, while simultaneously Muslim cultures are metonymically linked with homophobia and oppression. I demonstrate through a close reading of three documentaries that the optics and modalities that they employ do not make intelligible the other and their relationalities but rather circumscribe them. I argue that the discourse is not constituted to empower but instead functions to subordinate, impoverish, and incapacitate the other.
... where Black men engage in sex with other men while maintaining a heterosexual identity. The association of gay culture with White effeminacy contributes to the down low's existence as a way for Black males to satiate desires for same-sex behavior while maintaining Black respectability (Phillips, 2005); however, down low discourse is also critiqued for its assertion that Black men who participate are a danger to Black women and the nuclear heterosexual family and are to blame for the spread of HIV/AIDS (Tapia, McCune, & Devere Brody, 2006 Researchers studying the sexual lives of college men and women must consider the full range of individuals who occupy college spaces and the multiple "sexual fields" that develop on a given college campus (Green, 2014). This will require the more difficult task of locating students outside hookup culture and capturing the experiences of marginalized and/or less visible subcultures, attentive to the collective influence of student identity, university culture and campus structures for shaping the social landscape and consequent sexual opportunities (Sweeney, 2014). ...
A prominent body of sexuality research on college-enrolled students in the twenty-first century focuses on “hookup” culture, marked by the prevalence of sexual encounters between students with no expectation for a relationship to develop. This article will review and respond to current themes in the literature on hookup culture on college campuses. I argue that this literature privileges the White, middle-class heterosexual experience, although less is known about how students who cannot or choose not to participate in this culture experience sexual relationships on college campuses. I place studies of hookup culture in conversation with those attentive to the effects of race, class, gender, and sexuality on access to, and experience of, hookup culture. I conclude with suggestions for future research, to include a renewed interest in sexual relationships forged outside of hookup cultures.
... As such, the extant literature on Black bisexuals is often pathologizing, essentializing, and objectifying (Childs, Laudone, & Tavernier, 2010;Pettaway et al., 2014;Rust, 2003). The public health and social science literature on Black bisexuality tends to focus on sexual health and stigma associated with Black bisexual men being on the down low (Pettaway et al., 2014;Phillips, 2005). Rust (2003) encourages researchers to move beyond simply focusing on sexual behaviors and attend to other components of bisexuality (e.g., coming out processes, emotional feelings, relationship values, bisexual identity). ...
AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION " Lourdes Dolores Follins and Jonathan Mathias Lassiter offer us a long overdue treatment of Black LGBT health in the United States, one that doesn't shy away from our rich, varied, and intersectional tapestry by equally highlighting all constituents of the LGBT acronym.. .. Black LGBT Health in the United States exalts our glorious resilience as Black LGBT and gender non-conforming peoples, and in doing so, provides readers with a road map on how we can more effectively prioritize and celebrate our collective and individual health. " —DAVID MALEBRANCHE, MD " The breadth of this scholarly work is superb in its exploration of innovative, culturally-grounded prevention strategies and community-based programs that challenge health inequities and provide a more holistic understanding of Black LGBT communities. " —LEO WILTON, State University of New York at Binghamton Black LGBT Health in the United States: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation focuses on the mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of health, and considers both risk and resiliency factors for the Black LGBT population in the United States. Contributors to this collection intimately understand the associations between health and intersectional anti-Black racism, heterosexism, homonegativity, biphobia, transphobia, and social class. This collection fills a gap in current scholarship by providing information about an array of health issues like cancer, juvenile incarceration, and depression that affect all subpopulations of Black LGBT people, especially Black bisexual-identified women, Black bisexual-identified men, and Black transgender men. This book is recommended for readers interested in psychology, health, gender studies, race studies, social work, and sociology.
... Some research hypothesizes that sexual minorities of color may be exposed to greater stress and health risks than their white counterparts due to higher levels of heterosexism in their communities, but empirical evidence, mostly based on small samples, remains inconsistent. [14][15][16] Other work suggests that sexual minorities of color are more resilient in the face of heterosexism because they have developed skills/strategies to cope with racism. [16][17][18] However, whether their health outcomes also reflect such resilience remains an open question. ...
Introduction:
Although population studies have documented the poorer health outcomes of sexual minorities, few have taken an intersectionality approach to examine how sexual orientation, gender, and race jointly affect these outcomes. Moreover, little is known about how behavioral risks and healthcare access contribute to health disparities by sexual, gender, and racial identities.
Methods:
Using ordered and binary logistic regression models in 2015, data from the 2013 and 2014 National Health Interview Surveys (n=62,302) were analyzed to study disparities in self-rated health and functional limitation. This study examined how gender and race interact with sexual identity to create health disparities, and how these disparities are attributable to differential exposure to behavioral risks and access to care.
Results:
Conditional on sociodemographic factors, all sexual, gender, and racial minority groups, except straight white women, gay white men, and bisexual non-white men, reported worse self-rated health than straight white men (p<0.05). Some of these gaps were attributable to differences in behaviors and healthcare access. All female groups, as well as gay non-white men, were more likely to report a functional limitation than straight white men (p<0.05), and these gaps largely remained when behavioral risks and access to care were accounted for. The study also discusses health disparities within sexual, gender, and racial minority groups.
Conclusions:
Sexual, gender, and racial identities interact with one another in a complex way to affect health experiences. Efforts to improve sexual minority health should consider heterogeneity in health risks and health outcomes among sexual minorities.
... Black college students are more likely to have positive attitudes toward homosexuality than those not enrolled in institutions of higher education, because the college environment and experience offers multiple opportunities to engage in dialogue around difference and attend programs (Engberg et al., 2007;Lottes & Kuriloff, 1994 (Boykin, 2005; W. Harris, 2003;King, 2004) and the myth of homosexuality being exclusive to White people (Collins, 2005;Greene, 2000;Mitchell, 2000;Reid-Pharr & Rogers-Cooper, 2006). Institutionally, negative attitudes about homosexuality influence how society views and deals with health care and HIV/AIDs (Bleich & Taylor-Clark, 2005;Boykin, 2005;Cohen, 1996;Croteau, 1992;Jordan, 2007;Miller, 2007;Peterson & Jones, 2009;Phillips, 2005), the misguided and unrealistic perceptions of homosexuality within the prison system (Schwartz, 2004;Western & Pettit, 2002) and how socialized gender roles-what it means to be a man (masculinity) or woman (femininity) -are perpetuated in the family, church, and community (Anderson, 1995;Blumenfeld, 1992;E. Brown, 2005;Clark, 2005;Clarke, 1995;Cohen, 1996;Loiacano, 1989). ...
... Moreover, views regarding HIV among outwardly heterosexual, non-disclosing African American men who have sex with men and women who conceal their same-sex behaviour from female partners contributes to a perception among mainstream media that these African American men are largely responsible for the high rates of HIV experienced among African American women (CNN July 2010; Malebranche 2010; Malebranche et al. 2010;Millett et al. 2005;National Public Radio 2009;Phillips 2005). These men are often referred to as being on the 'down low' or the 'DL'. ...
Background: Thus far, HIV research has focused on men who have sex with men (MSM) and women (MSMW) but very little is known about women's perspectives on relationships with MSMW. The black community and the media refer to MSMW secretive behavior as being on the down low, or DL. Although not proven as a cause for HIV spread among women, DL has been a concern for women. This research explores women's knowledge, attitudes and beliefs on the DL phenomenon, their concerns and coping strategies.
Methods: We conducted 6 focus groups discussions with 42 African American women. Moderated by the PI, recorded and transcribed verbatim and analyzed using NVivo. Each discussion focused on topics of knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, signs, concerns, what they would do if their partners are on DL, and safety negotiation.
Results: Participants expressed concern about lack of disclosure in the DL phenomenon. They believe that African American men are less likely to come out regarding their gay or bisexual behaviors due to expectations of black male sexuality, attitudes of black church and community, and widespread incarcerations. Women expressed hurt, shame and deception when faced with their partner's DL behavior and often perceived it as their personal failure.
Conclusion: When same sex behaviors are not acknowledged by the larger society, that leaves the people involved, in this case the women, without access to necessary information, services and social / cultural support. Thus homophobia affects not only the gay men but their female partners and the society in general.
... Although the notion of a down low life style, often referred to as being ''on the DL,'' has a long history among both black and white men (Ford et al. 2007; Phillips 2005; Robinson and Vidal-Ortiz 2013), the past few years have been marked by an exponential increase in attention given to the phenomenon, specifically as it is thought to be practiced by black men. Much of this current work has focused on examining the down low phenomenon as a potential ''bridge'' for HIV transmission between male partners and female partners of men who keep their homosexual activity a secret from their female partners in order to explain the increasing rates of HIV infection among black women. ...
Although the notion of a down low life style, called various things at various times, has a long history in the black community, the past few years have been marked by an exponential increase in attention of this phenomenon in both the mainstream press and scholarly work. However, much of this work has focused on exploring whether men on the down low present a unique threat for HIV infection to black women. Currently, there exist very few scholarly works exploring the lives of black men who have sex with men and women that specifically address their own experiences living on the down low or how these men personally define what it means to be on the down low. In this article, we explore why black men who have sex with men and black men who have sex with men and women, including those who self-identify as gay, bisexual or as being on the down low, come to use the down low label and what it means to them to be on the down low.
... Some of them called "Men on the Down Low" should be paid great attention to; they have both hetero and homosexual relationships but keep the homosexual ones a secret. [12,13] Now, let's get back to IDUs. The transmission of HIV among IDUs is greatly adding to the burden of HIV/AIDS worldwide. ...
The global community has stepped forward in responding to the AIDS pandemic. [1] After all these efforts to control this terrible HIV pandemic for over 30 years, we are now in a position to overcome the virus. Through this painfully long time, we have learned enough to gain the upper hand. We are able to turn the pandemic around through effective policies and programs. However, we think we should keep our eyes on the reality. Although the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is not a mysterious agent anymore, we have never witnessed a virus quite like this one with the multiple factors that make it so persistently unrelenting. We do know a lot about this virus but still, we are yet to find a way to protect our communities from its attack and minimize its burden effectively. HIV/ AIDS, as one of the most important current health issues globally, knows no barriers. Almost all countries, regardless of their development level, socio-economic status, and cultures are facing its considerable social, cultural, and economic impacts. But have you ever wondered why this virus is so universal? Why do we have to put its name on the top list of major health struggles, while meeting minimum promising progress, particularly in some parts of the world like the Eastern Mediterranean Region? Why cannot we just take the virus down and celebrate its end? In light of all the challenges of the last decades regarding HIV, let's take a look at the bigger picture here. When it comes to HIV transmission routes, the first thing that comes to the mind is sex and drugs. For example, in most countries (Islamic countries, in particular), both homosexual and heterosexual contacts are highly sensitive topics. Extra-marital sex, multi-partnership, male/female sex-work, injection drug use, and many other surrounding issues related to HIV are of serious concern not only for health-policy makers but also for experts from different disciplines such as sociology, medicine, law, economy, religion, and politics. On the other hand the legal status of sex work varies from country to country, from being considered a form of abuse (e.g. Norway, Iceland, and Sweden), to be a legal occupation (Netherlands, Germany), or classified as a crime deserving punishments (many Muslims countries). [2] The latter could even make taking serious actions globally, even harder. On top of sex-related concepts, a major complicated public health issue is yet to be tackled among drug users and particularly injecting drug users (IDUs). They are another core group with completely different characteristics. Similar to the previous sub-groups, IDUs are a hidden and www.mui.ac.ir
... In his insightful critique of the inattention to racial difference in seminal analyses of the closet, Ross (2005) considers the potential disconnect between a white-oriented politics of outness and the exigencies of black queer lives. Johnson's ethnographic work on black queer men in housing projects (2006) and throughout the American South (2008) has pointed to the closet as an important strategy for maintaining cherished ties with black communities while nonetheless allowing for subtle and strategic expressions of queerness within those spaces, and recent works on black queer men on the 'down low' have described an eroticization of the closet that produces an aversion to 'gay' identity labels and, thus, enables these men to tentatively sustain their membership in black communities (Boykin 2005;Phillips, 2005;Wilson 2004). A recurrent theme across these works is the importance of black queers' connection to black communitiesa connection that can complicate or even outweigh the purported benefits of a gay liberationist politics of outness. ...
While black queer educators could conceivably play a critical role in disrupting black queer marginality in educational settings, relatively little is known about their experiences. Drawing upon findings from a broader qualitative study on black male teachers in an urban school district in the United States, this article explores how five black queer male educators negotiated pressures to keep their queerness ‘in the closet.’ Although remaining in the closet left these men vulnerable to homophobic surveillance, it also enabled them to demonstrate racially mediated forms of agency within school settings. By complicating constructions of the closet as an abject social positionality for queer educators, this article considers the possible affordances of the closet for black queer teachers while also underscoring the need for institutionally sanctioned interventions against homophobia in urban educational settings.
... Even now, however, some men may only identify as gay if they assume a passive, penetrated, "feminine" role in sex (Labi, 2007;La Pastina, 2006;Meyer, 1995;Phellas, 2005;Ross, 2005;Shakespeare, 1999). And there are men who engage in all same-sex sexual acts who do not self-identify as gay such as those working in the porn industry (Escoffier, 2003;Seidman et al., 1999) and those who consider themselves on the "down low" (Boykin, 2005;King, 2005;González, 2007;Phillips, 2005). My interviewees, along with Berzon (2002), Cooper (1996), Fries (1997), and Harris (2003), all speak about a time of participating in same-sex sexual acts without or before identifying as gay. ...
Gay identity is inextricably tied to the metaphor of the closet. This tie is best exemplified by the act of "coming out of the closet," an act when a person discloses a gay identity to another, an act of self-identification and confession that others can motivate but never force, an act typically thought of as necessary, dangerous, and consequential, and an act often viewed as a discrete, linear process. Gay identity is also frequently framed as a self-contained trait thus making coming out a one-sided, personal affair.
In this project, I use autoethnography and narrative inquiry, life story interviews of four gay men, life writings by gay men, mass mediated accounts of the closet, and my personal experience to describe three epiphanies-interactional moments that significantly change the trajectory of a person's life-of gay identity: (1) "Learning the Closet," a moment when a person first becomes familiar with the metaphorical space; (2) "Living the Closet," a moment when a person privately acknowledges a gay identity but publicly discounts this identity by saying and acting as if it does not exist; and (3) "Leaving the Closet," a moment when a person discloses gay identity to others.
I conclude by describing the "double-bind of gay identity"-the dilemma that forms when a person cannot escape the closet-and argue that once a person identifies as gay, the closet becomes a formative influence on her/his life; a gay person can never live outside of the metaphorical space again, can never live as an out gay person everywhere. I also use a relational perspective to understand how gay identity and the disclosure of this identity implicate others in a gay person's social network. A relational perspective removes gay identity it from the individualistic realm and situates it among beings-in-interaction. In so doing, the experience of the closet becomes removed from the exclusive burden of the self-contained gay person to one in which coming out becomes a shared responsibility by all individuals involved in a relationship.
... Moreover, views regarding HIV among outwardly heterosexual, non-disclosing African American MSMW who conceal their same sex behaviour from female partners contributes to a perception among mainstream media that these African American men are largely responsible for the high rates of HIV experienced among African American women (CNN July 2010;NPR October 2009;Phillips 2005;Millett et al. 2005;Malebranche October 2010;Malebranche et al. 2010). These men are often referred to as being on the "Down low" or the "DL". ...
African American women are disproportionately affected by HIV. Some research has explored if non-disclosing men who have sex with men and women contribute to women's HIV risk. Popular media discourse tends to refer to these men as 'down low' or 'DL'. Six focus groups were conducted with 36 African American women in Washington, DC, to examine their knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours regarding DL men. Three of the focus groups were composed of HIV-positive women and three groups were composed of HIV-negative women. Data analysis reveals six central subcategories related to women's perspectives on the DL: awareness, suspicion, coping with partner infidelity (male versus female), sexual health communication, empathy and religion. No major differences were identified between the HIV-positive and HIV-negative focus groups. Findings from this study provide insight into African American women's perceptions of African American male sexuality and how these perceptions serve to influence interpersonal relationship factors and women's exposure to HIV risk.
Given the disproportionate representation in HIV/AIDS cases among young Black members of the LGBTQIA community, it is important to continue to identify both their ability to assess the knowledge that can foster healthier sexual outcomes as well as dynamics that may foster or undermine their efforts. The goal of this study is to examine whether 236 young Black persons ages 18–30 years old who are members of the LGBTQIA community know where to go locally to locate healthcare services to combat HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted health issues. Quantitative findings show the influence of self-identified sexual identity, age, and place of residence on knowledge about HIV-related services. The implications of these results illustrate the possible effects of place and identity development on knowledge about HIV-related services that can affect life chances and quality of life for certain members of this community.
This paper uses two surveys to examine sexual identity‐behavior discordance in Canada. The first is the Sex in Canada survey (SCS), which is a private survey of 2,303 Canadians. The second is the 2015–2016 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), which is a large nationally representative government‐administered survey with 109,659 respondents. Results from the CCHS show that identity‐behavior discordance and overall rates of same‐sex contact are lower in Canada than in the US, UK, or Australia. An estimated .7 percent of males and 2.7 percent of females aged 15–64 who had had lifetime sex identified as heterosexual yet have had same‐sex contact, figures which equate to an estimated 65,700 males and 255,100 females. Few demographic factors were associated with discordance. Results from the SCS show that about two‐thirds of heterosexuals with identity‐behavior discordance were moderately supportive of LGBQ rights and one‐third were moderately homophobic. Future research will need to uncover why a lower proportion of Canadians report same‐sex partners and identity‐behavior discordance than their counterparts in the US, UK, or Australia. Cet article utilise deux enquêtes pour examiner la discordance entre l'identité sexuelle et le comportement au Canada. La première est l'enquête Sex in Canada (SCS), qui est une enquête privée menée auprès de 2 303 Canadiens. La seconde est l'Enquête sur la santé dans les collectivités canadiennes (ESCC) de 2015–2016, qui est une grande enquête représentative à l'échelle nationale administrée par le gouvernement auprès de 109 659 répondants. Les résultats de l'ESCC montrent que la discordance identité‐comportement et les taux globaux de contacts entre personnes de même sexe sont plus faibles au Canada qu'aux États‐Unis, au Royaume‐Uni ou en Australie. On estime que 0,7 % des hommes et 2,7 % des femmes âgés de 15 à 64 ans ayant eu des rapports sexuels au cours de leur vie se sont identifiés comme hétérosexuels, mais ont eu des contacts avec des personnes du même sexe, ce qui correspond à environ 65 700 hommes et 255 100 femmes. Peu de facteurs démographiques étaient associés à la discordance. Les résultats de l'enquête SCS montrent qu'environ deux tiers des hétérosexuels présentant une discordance entre identité et comportement étaient modérément favorables aux droits des LGBQ et qu'un tiers était modérément homophobe. Les recherches futures devront découvrir pourquoi une plus faible proportion de Canadiens déclarent avoir des partenaires de même sexe et être en désaccord avec leur identité et leur comportement que leurs homologues aux États‐Unis, au Royaume‐Uni ou en Australie.
Discourses of HIV status neutrality have emerged in the wake of advances in biomedical technologies for HIV prevention and treatment of HIV. The combined effects of Treatment as Prevention (TasP) and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) give rise to the possibility of dramatically curbing new HIV infections and nurture fantasies about an HIV-free/risk-free futurity. In this article, we consider the possibilities of HIV neutrality as a social-material assemblage entangling different institutional investments and practices, discourses about HIV risk and prevention, historical memories, political rationalities, and as a generative point of contact between and across different actors, institutions and objects. We explore the different logics and sentiments that are being drawn together in three different sites where HIV neutrality is configured. Borrowing from cultural and social science approaches that grapple with emotions and feelings as ‘distributed phenomena’ that carry political and social significance, we interrogate the work of HIV neutrality in effecting new tensions in the affective economies underpinning gay sexual socialities’ relation to HIV/AIDS and HIV risk. Our analysis suggests that as these new social-material strategies emerge to manage HIV risk, they entangle historically sedimented effects of HIV/AIDS. We ask to what extent these assemblages are productive of new intimacies and alliances, and possibly renewed entrenchments of bio-social boundaries cutting across gay male socialities in North America.
This study explores the social determinants of exclusively straight sexual identification in a large, nationally representative sample. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and combining cross-classified multilevel models with social network analysis, we examine how straight identification varies across school, neighborhood, and network community contexts. We also test whether numerous determinants identified by prior ethnographic studies predict straight identification. The use of panel data enables us to establish temporal order, avoiding many of the disadvantages of cross-sectional studies. After controlling for attractions and sexual behaviors, we find persistent clustering of adult sexual identification by adolescent social context, suggesting that these contexts may shape later sexual identification. Religiosity, political conservatism, Black racial identification, migration status, and male identification were strong predictors of straight identification. This study provides the most comprehensive analysis of the social determinants of sexual identification to date as well as evidence on the generalizability of previous findings.
This chapter investigates some of the key problems that have affected black gay men, especially HIV/AIDS and “the down low” phenomenon. First discussed is how the HIV/AIDS pandemic had caused tremendous anxiety and moral panic among men in general by “outing” those who lived a double life and were otherwise considered “straight”. This leads to a psychoanalysis of men living “on the down low” that further reveals the self-destructive nature of heterosexual masculinity and women’s role in safeguarding straight men’s ownership of masculinity. At the end, the chapter argues that the crux of the matter regarding men reconciling masculinity with homosexuality is to alter their “heterosexual superego” that has been established and reinforced by peer groups, the media and society at large.
In the USA, HIV transmission rates among Black women are four times higher than white women, even in the face of low-risk behaviours, a discrepancy often overlooked because of historical stereotypes. In this study, we deconstruct a specific government-sponsored HIV prevention campaign targeted at Black women. Critical discourse analysis reveals a heavy focus on individual responsibility, self-sacrifice, family and deference to men. The presence of historically relevant racial and gender-related constructs suggests intersectional implications for the campaign. We provide suggestions for avoiding linkage to destructive racial constructs in HIV prevention messages and allied forms of sexual health communication aimed at Black women.
The sexualities of men who have same-sex desires yet identify as straight have attracted significant attention in recent years. We present findings from interviews with 100 such men, whom we recruited while they were seeking sex with men online, and examine the logics that allow them to maintain an identity as straight. Our sample is somewhat unique in that it included men across a wide age range (from 18 to 70), and also because many of our participants are white adult US men who are married or in stable relationships with women. Based on their patterns of sexual interpretation, we discuss how these men make their same-sex desires and behaviours consistent with a primary self-identification as straight. We argue that, in the process of maintaining identities as straight men, they change the definition of heterosexuality, in effect turning it into a considerably elastic category that is perceived as fully compatible with having and enacting same-sex desires.
As a trainer and advocate for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community, I have gained a strong sense of awareness regarding the identity development of LGBTQ people. However, as a White lesbian I never considered the impact race might have on the identity development of LGBTQ people, specifically Black lesbians. I am a proud alumnus and out professional at the Catholic University at which I currently work. However, I see and feel discrimination every day. After taking a course on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), I was intrigued by the constant comparisons I naturally made throughout the course. This essay is inspired by the personal experiences of being a White lesbian at a Catholic institution and the meaning of being a Black lesbian at an HBCU. This essay explores the intersectionality of identity, the impact of college environments, heteronormative and homophobic behaviors, and acceptance within the Black community. It highlights the specific needs Black lesbians will require as they enter HBCUs.
The theme of this book has been that transport decisions taken on the single criterion of profitability will be seriously deficient. The reasons for this are (1) that the transport sector is subject to major indivisibilities, joint costs and economies of scale which mean that marginal private cost may often be well below average, and (2) that transport systems are major creators of externalities, which are not taken into account by individuals in their market behaviour.
This article examines the logics of self-identification among men who have same-sex desires and behaviours and consider themselves to be straight. We draw from interviews conducted in the USA with 100 straight-identified men who have same-sex desires and 40 partners of such men. Our data allow us to reject two misconceptions. One is the idea that these men are actually gay or bisexual but refuse to accept those identities. We argue instead that these men see themselves as straight and therefore it is important to understand what specifically they mean by that. The second misconception links straight-identified men who have same-sex desires and behaviours to the racialised discourse of the so-called down low (or 'DL') in the USA. While the DL typically is depicted as involving African American and Latino men, most of our participants are White. Moving beyond these misconceptions, we propose that health educators must acknowledge flexibilities in the definition of heterosexuality and use an expanded definition as a starting point to envision, together with these men, how to more effectively engage them in HIV prevention and health promotion.
In recent years, the down low phenomenon has received unprecedented attention in both the popular and academic press. However, much of this work has focused on exploring whether men on the down low present a unique threat for HIV infection to black women. Currently, there exist very few scholarly or popular works exploring the meaning attached to the down low, not only by those who promote the label for academic studies or for media dispersal. In this essay, I shed new light on the meanings attached to the down low by the popular press, critically evaluating how it is used to create a category that is marked by an undesirable categorization of black men, and provide an argument as to why black men who have sex with men may adopt the label for themselves.
Objective: To investigate the utility of an adapted version of a racial respect scale originally developed for African American youth. We modified the scales for gender-specific use with adult African Americans, and added a subscale to assess racial respect related to romantic partnerships. The current study seeks to investigate the relationship between the reliability and construct validity of the racial respect scale and a measure encompassing 4 theorized adaptive and maladaptive identity types, the Perceptions of African American Experience (PAAX). The study authors also investigate the hypothesized relationship between racial respect and health outcomes and mental health adjustment. Method: The newly developed African American Respect Scale -Women (AARS-W) and African American Respect Scale - Men (AARS-M) are psychometrically tested with samples of adult African Americans (N = 278) recruited in 3 U.S. cities: Portland, Oregon; St. Louis, Missouri; and Washington, D.C., which were selected to represent the diversity in East Coast, Midwest, and West Coast populations. Results: Findings from the current study provides evidence that racial respect predicts prosocial adaptive identity and is associated with participation in prosocial activities and positive health outcomes while the lack of it predicts maladaptive identity and poor mental health adjustment as well as the lack of access to the social determinants of health such as adequate education and employment opportunities. Conclusions: Social workers working with adult African Americans will find the results from the current study helpful in their professional practice.
The controversial phenomenon of “the down low” has created fear and suspicion of male sexual partners among many African American women. Being on the down low refers to men that lead seemingly heterosexual lives, yet secretly have sex with other men. Popular media have portrayed this topic more widely in more recent years and generally focus on African Americans. Two popular television shows, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Girlfriends, have dedicated episodes centering heterosexual African American women partnered with African American men on the down low. The popular television film, Cover, features an African American woman who learns her husband secretly has affairs with other men. Black feminist thought provides an intersectional frame for analyzing the content of these portrayals of Black women in relationships with men on the down low. The analysis demonstrates that the down low associates more affluent African Americans with socially deviant behavior and issues, such as hyper-sexuality and HIV/AIDS. Further, they show newer interpretations of African American women “in love and in trouble” and that African American men often have to disguise and remain silent about their sexuality to garner acceptance into their communities.
In this paper, we argue that both traditional psychology-based group identity theories related to race and sexuality and perspectives on the politics of difference obtained from poststructuralist queer theory underdetermine identity as it is experienced by a distinct subset of individuals, emblematized by non-traditional, non-conforming, and transgressive Black queers. We offer a new explanatory model for these emerging identities that is rooted in metaphysical explanations of human experience. To support our model, we draw historical and contemporary illustrations from African American popular culture.
In this article, I explore how masculinity and gender nonconformity are viewed by 37 migrant Puerto Rican gay men who had been raised in Puerto Rico and migrated Stateside as adults. Most of these migrant men note the importance of masculinity in their development and interactions with others, particularly other men. They resist identification of themselves as effeminate and distance themselves from locas (effeminate gay men). They associate locas with overt homosexuality, disrespect, and marginality. I argue that migrant Puerto Rican gay masculinities are maintained within the precept of hegemonic masculinity through various social mechanisms, including a gendered construction of male homosexuality; the connection of social and interpersonal respect with masculinity; the socially allowable and pervasive ridicule and punishment of male femininity; and marginalization based on multiple social statuses. Through these interconnected social mechanisms, heteronormative perspectives on gender, gender binaries, and power are incorporated into homonormative migrant Puerto Rican gay masculinities.
Abstract Research has shown that the media exerts a significant influence on citizen attitudes. However less work has been done examining the role of the media in shaping the attitudes of black citizens vis-à-vis other black citizens. While issues presented using episodic vs. thematic frames have been shown in previous research not to affect African American public opinion, I arguethat the types of issues that are likely to influence the public opinion of marginalized groups are not necessarilythe same as those likely to influence dominant groups. Because of the way HIV/AIDS has spread within African American communities,I argue that this is an issue that if presented using episodic frames, should influence black public opinion about the disease, behaviors associated with it, and people associated with it. I use an innovative experimental design to test the proposition that media conditions that focus on black male transmitters of HIV/AIDS generate negative attitudes towards black men. I find that episodic conditions about HIV/AIDS cause black men and women to feel colder towards black men in general, cause them to adopt more conservative attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, but at the same time make them more likely to support political action. 3 The research on framing indicates that modifying the way that various media stories are presented (or “framed”) can significantly influence public opinion. Episodic frames focusing on individual responsibility for example have increased the likelihood of respondents blaming individuals for their condition. This is particularly true when it comes to issues like crime and welfare, issues that have been implicitly racialized. One of
In order to sincerely pursue an inclusive African American humanity, we must recognize and respond to the complex intersections
of subordination and privilege within the broad social, cultural, and physiological domain that is Blackness—the physical
marker of African American existence within the United States. This paper represents an attempt to reflexively consider my
own Blackness and the privileges contained therein. Sexuality, class and gender are among the subject positions that I consider
in this effort.
Conceptual discussions about LGB people of color suggest that, compared with White LGB individuals, LGB people of color may be exposed to greater levels of heterosexist stigma and its deleterious correlates (greater risk) or may be more resilient to such stigma (resilience). This study tested tenets of these two perspectives with a sample of 178 LGB persons, about 50% of whom identified as White and 50% as people of color. Findings suggested similarities between LGB people of color and White LGB individuals in levels of perceived heterosexist stigma, internalized homophobia, and comfort with disclosure of sexual orientation and in relations of heterosexist stigma with sexual orientation disclosure variables. But, compared with data for White LGB participants, data for LGB people of color suggested lower levels of outness and a weaker relation between perceived heterosexist stigma and internalized homophobia. Implications of these findings for further research and practice are discussed.
This study provides a content analysis of the past decade (1998-2007) of psychological scholarship about lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people of color. Findings revealed that literature about LGB people of color is growing. But, findings also highlighted underused methods, underrepresented subpopulations, and understudied topics in the scholarship about LGB people of color. In addition, divergence found between the topics of focus represented in empirical and nonempirical literature suggested the need for empirical evaluation of themes and topics discussed in the conceptual literature. Finally, understudied topics seemed to reflect areas in which counseling psychologists have expertise and experience and can make substantial contributions to advance scholarship about LGB people of color.
This article introduces the Major Contribution on centralizing the experiences of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people of color in counseling psychology. The roles of LGB people of color in LGB sociopolitical movements and their invisibility in the psychological literature are discussed as a context for this series of articles. This article also discusses the overall aims of the Major Contribution and presents an overview of each of its three component articles.
It is perhaps fitting to start off by examining the real reasons which make it necessary for us to think collectively about a problem we never created. In doing so, I do not wish to appear to be unnecessarily concerning myself with the White people in this country, but I sincerely believe that in order to get to the right answer, we must ask the right questions; we have to find out what went wrong where and when; we have to find out whether our position is a deliberate creation by God or an artificial fabrication of the truth by power-hungry people whose motive is authority, security, wealth and comfort. In other words the "Black Consciousness" approach would be irrelevant in a colourless and non-exploitative egalitarian society. It is relevant here because we believe that the anomalous situation we find ourselves in is deliberately man-made for the reasons mentioned. There is no doubt that the colour question in South African politics was originally introduced for economic motives. The leaders of the White community had to create some kind of barrier between Blacks and Whites such that the Whites could enjoy privilege at the expense of Blacks and still feel free to give a moral explanation for the obvious exploitation that pricked even the hardest of White consciences. However, tradition has it that whenever a group of people has tasted the lovely fruits of wealth, security and prestige they begin to find it more comfortable to believe in the obvious lie and to accept it as in fact quite normal that they alone are entitled to privilege. In order to believe this seriously, they need to convince themselves of all the arguments that support the lie. It is, therefore, not surprising that in South Africa, after generations of exploitation. White people on the whole have come to believe in the inferiority of the Black man, so much so that while originally the race problem was an offshoot of the economic greed exhibited by White people, it has now become a serious problem on its own. White people now despise Black people, not because they need to reinforce their attitude and therefore justify their position of privilege but simply because they actually believe that Black is inferior and bad. This is the basis upon which Whites are working in this country. This is what shows South Africa to be a racist society.
HOUSTON Once a week, the five friends, all members of the Abundant Life Cathedral here, get together to eat sushi, sip wine and talk. But one recent afternoon, the women chose a different activity: They went to see ''Not a Day Goes By,'' a musical about black men on the ''down low'' who, while not calling themselves gay or bisexual, have sex with other men, often behind the backs of their wives and girlfriends.
It ain’t all about the down low [Electronic version
- C De Leon
AIDS education is aimed ‘down low
- L Villarosa
Minority groups facing a tougher fight with AIDS: Health: Prevention programs used among gay whites do not work in other communities, critics say, calling for new approaches [Electronic version
- J Y Stewart
- S Bernstein
Unexpected lesbians: The down low double life [Electronic version]. The Hilltop. Retrieved
- S Gates
Double lives on the down low
- B Denizet-Lewis
Stepping out in love, spirit and unification: An historic debate on homosexuality in the Black community [Electronic version
- C Manago
Manago, C. (1998, July 16). Stepping out in love, spirit and unification: An historic debate on homosexuality in the Black community [Electronic version]. Afrikan.net Newsboard. Retrieved May I0, 2005, from http://afrikan.i-dentity.com/wwwboard/messages/1245.html.
Rough amusements: The true story of A’lelia Walker, patroness of the Harlem Renaissance’s down-low culture
- B Neihart
- B. Neihart
Neihart, B. (2003). Rough amusements: The true story of A "lelia Walker, patroness of the Harlem Renaissance "s down-low culture. New York: Bloomsbury.
Looking for Langston [Motion picture]
- I Julien
Julien, I. (Dir.) (1989). Looking for Langston [Motion picture]. United Kingdom: Water Bearer.
Unexpected lesbians: The down low double life [Electronic ver-sion]. The Hilltop Black (w)holes and the geometry of Black female sexuality
- S E Gates
Gates, S. (2004, September 28). Unexpected lesbians: The down low double life [Electronic ver-sion]. The Hilltop. Retrieved May 30, 2005, from http://www.thehilltoponline.com/2004/09/ 28/Lifestyle/Unexpected.Lesbians.The.Down.Low.Double.Life-733365.shtml. Hammonds, E. (1994). Black (w)holes and the geometry of Black female sexuality. Differences, 6(2-3), 126-145.
Black men living on the down low: The danger of living ‘down low’ Black men who hide their bisexuality can put women at risk [Electronic version
- S Sternberg
Sternberg, S. (2001, March 15). Black men living on the down low: The danger of living'down low' Black men who hide their bisexuality can put women at risk [Electronic version]. USA Today. Retrieved May 10, 2005, from http://usastuff.20m.com/.
Secret gay encounters of black men could be raising women’s infection rate [Electronic version
- J B Johnson
Johnson, J. B. (2005, May 1). Secret gay encounters of black men could be raising women's infec-tion rate [Electronic version]. San Francisco Chronicle, p. A1. Retrieved May 10, 2005, from http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/.
On the down low: A journey into the lives of “straight” Black men who sleep with men
- J L King
- J. L. King
King, J. L. (2004). On the down low: A journey into the lives of"straight "" Black men who sleep with men. New York: Broadway.
Changing ones: Third and fourth genders in Native North America
- W Roscoe
- W. Roscoe
Roscoe, W. (2000). Changing ones: Third and fourth genders in Native North America. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gay voices of the Harlem Renaissance
- A B C Schwarz
- A. B. C. Schwarz
Schwarz, A. B. C. (2003). Gay voices of the Harlem Renaissance. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Semantics and sellouts: The low down on the down low [Electronic version
- A Banks
The greatest taboo: Homosexuality in Black communities
- D Constantine-Simms
- D. Constantine-Simms
On the up and up: A survival guide for women living with men on the down low
- B S Browder
- B. S. Browder
Beyond the down low: Sex, lies, and denial in Black America
- K Boykin
- K. Boykin
The danger of living “down low”; Black men who hide their bisexuality can put women at risk [Electronic version
- S Sternberg
The spirit and the flesh: Sexual diversity in American Indian culture
- W L Williams
- W. L. Williams